Description

Background:
The Global Security team’s goal is to ensure Mercy Corps team members are prepared to manage insecure environments. We do this by promoting a culture of security awareness and management supported by the tools and guidance our country teams require to operationalize this goal.

Purpose / Project Description:
The main goal of the Security Operations and Standards Advisor is to provide guidance to the global security team in support of our country’s security infrastructure. The Security Operations and Standards Advisor is an effective communicator, has a deep understanding of Mercy Corps’ safety and security operations and is able to mentor team members in the practical application of our safety and security policies.

Consultant Objectives:

1. Ensure that our Global Security Policies are reflected, aligned, and integrated into all our security tools and guidance.
2. Security Focal Points have the tools and knowledge to develop plans that adhere to safety and security minimum requirements
3. Security Focal Points are aware of and prepared to fulfill their roles and responsibilities.

Consultant Activities:

1. Document review and update of security templates and guidelines to align them with our policies and minimum standards.
2. Advise on updating and contextualizing security tools.
3. Participate in global security discussions, supporting implementation efforts of the regional security advisors, technical consultants and global security team.
4. Identify templates, guidance or tools, or specific parts within these documents that cannot be updated currently, but will need to be depending on revision of our global policies or standards.

Consultant Deliverables:
The Consultant will:

1. Review assigned security documents and providing insight, advice, editing as required.
2. Evaluate current, edited and potential templates, guidance or tools against Mercy Corps Global Safety & Security Policy, delivering a report on potential changes and updates pending policy revision.
3. Work with the global security team to deliver scalable, accessible, templates and tools that can be contextualized for a wide range of risk profiles while also providing consistency across all Mercy Corps programs.
4. Identify obsolete templates, guidance or tools that should be retired or incorporated (in part) into updated documents.
5. Ensure that proposed updates comply with our current and possibly updated Global Safety and Security Policy. Highlight instances where an edit to our policy may effect our current guidelines and tools.
6. Templates, documents and guidance may include, but is not limited to:
   1. Country Risk Assessment – review current version (Annex A: Security Management Plan (EN), (French) review best practices across Mercy Corps countries and colleague organizations, deliver a Country Risk Assessment template that is scalable and adaptable for a variety of risk levels in a format that can be used consistently in all of our countries.
   2. Security Management Plan template – Revise and update Security Management Plan (SMP) Templat e, Security Management Plan (SMP) Template (Français)
      1. Partner Security Management Plan template – DRAFT
   3. Safety & Security Global Minimum Standards – Review, align with current templates and guidance, anticipate potential changes to the standards, feed into the update process utilizing knowledge gained from template and guidance review to inform what processes have worked and which processes need to be improved.
   4. Constant Companion Template
   5. Contingency Plan -review any drafts , examples such as the Contingency Planning Guidance for Humanitarian Response or the COVID-19 Program Contingency Planning Template. review best practices across Mercy Corps countries and colleague organizations, deliver a Contingency Plan template that is scalable and adaptable for a variety of risk levels and can be used consistently in all our countries added as an annex to the Security Management Plan.
   6. Standard Operating Procedures (Sample SOPs)– Review current templates, review samples from countries, finalize existing drafts, consolidate and update collection
      1. SOP – tracking security incidents
      2. SOP- tracking training delivered
      3. SOP- tracking security expenses
7. Security Focal Point roles, responsibilities and process for updating position description- Security Focal Point Position Description & Scope of Work and ADDENDUM 1: Security Focal Point Personal Action Form Update Process
8. Security Focal Point Self-Training Guide (EN, Arabic, French, Spanish)
9. Safety and Security Essentials Online Curriculum – Review and update identified sections. Primary focus on the mandatory modules.
10. Global Safety and Security Manual– Review, provide a report on areas for improvement.

Timeframe / Schedule:
September 18 – June 30, 2024

The Consultant will report to:
Interim Senior Director of Global Security

The Consultant will work closely with:
Regional Security Advisors in Africa
Regional Security Advisor – Asia
Regional Security Advisor, Middle East
Security contact in the Americas
Senior Program Office, Safety and Security

Required Experience & Skills:
Knowledge and experience of Mercy Corps safety and security infrastructure.
Experience developing and delivering remote learning.
Experience developing guidelines, templates and toolkits based on policy.